With June’s rumors of a WebObjects Inc IPO apparently in abeyance, Apple Computer Inc is trumpeting the success of the rapid application development tools it acquired with the purchase of Next Inc in January 1997 (CI No 3,074). At New York’s MacWorld Expo, interim CEO Steve Jobs announced that more than 3000 customers have lined up for WebObjects 3.5. Those customers include Adobe Systems Inc, Standard & Poors and the US Department of Defense. Meanwhile WebObjects 4.0 will be the first to support Apple’s PowerPC-based computers as well as Windows and Unix. Speaking in another context (see separate story), USWeb Corp’s Craig Bramscher joined the voices raised in WebObject’s praise. We reviewed most internet middleware and WebObjects stood out clearly, he says. It’s the only solution to offer the scalability and high performance we need for our supersite initiatives.
